When Flowers Bloom
by little.tel
Summary: April meets another mutant and the turtles gain an interesting friend. Who is this new mutant? What is this new mutant? Can the new friendship survive when put under attack? Can the turtles survive? With Bishop involved, who can tell?
1. A Meeting in the Rain

**A Meeting in the Rain**

"_Some days are made for rain." – Aaron Neville_

The sky over New York was darkened by grey clouds, which were bringing the first of the spring showers. The threat of rain had cleared the streets of most pedestrians. April O'Neil walked down the street as quickly as she could, trying to reach her apartment before the clouds unleashed their burden upon the earth. She was only a few streets away when the clouds had decided that they couldn't hold together any longer.

"Dang it." April cursed as a car drove through a puddle beside her and got her shoes soaking wet. She griped her grocery bags closer to her and sped up her pace.

April had just passed in front of a dark alley when she the sound of someone crying reached her ears over the sounds of the rain. Despite her better judgment she stopped and took a tentative step into the alleyway.

"Hello?" She called uncertainly into the dark, "Is there anyone here?" Her only answer was the steady beating of the rain on the metal and concrete. The crying sounds had completely sopped, but as April listened carefully she found she could make out the sounds of heavy labored breathing and a few murmured words. As she slowly walked deeper into the alley she called out again, "Are you alright?" Her eyes adjusted to the dim light and she couldn't help but gasp at what she saw.

Bodies were strewn all over the pavement and the ground was covered in puddles of blood. She gasped as she took an involuntary step backwards and attempted to let out a scream as she felt something metal press against her throat and dropped her bags to the ground. Her scream died in her throat as a hand clamped down on her mouth, effectively silencing her.

"Don't move." The voice was female and came out as a weak breathe. April almost tried to scream again when she realized that the hand holding her mouth closed was wet with something that left a metallic smell in her nose and that the thing pressed against her throat was also wet. "I don't want to hurt you." This time April actually heard the voice struggle for breath and she felt the person holding her waver and lean into her back. April couldn't help but stiffen as she felt something warm and wet seep into the back of her shirt.

"I'm going to let you go," The person holding her was having trouble forming her words, "if you promise not to scream. Okay?"

April nodded slightly and the person released her. She spun around quickly to face her former captor and could only stare at the person before her. Standing there in the rain was a girl in her mid-teens; she was wearing blue jeans, a tight black shirt, and a large black overcoat that hung down to her knees. Her outfit was ruined by the large gash that had stretched from one side of her stomach to the other side and the blood that was leaking out of it. The girl brought one of her hands up to press on the wound in an attempt to stop the blood from leaving her. That's when April found that she was having trouble believing what she was seeing. The girl in front of her was green. Now that she looked closer she saw that the girl's hair wasn't really hair at all, instead it was some kind of plant looking vine that grew from her head.

April shook her self out of her shock as she saw the girl waver once more on her feet. "You've been hurt." April moved to help her but the girl moved away quickly. "Don't move." Ordered April as she continued towards the girl, "You'll only hurt yourself more if you keep stretching it like that."

The girl's knees suddenly gave out and April lunged forward to catch her. She lowered her gently to the ground and pried the girl's hands away from her stomach to see how bad the wound was.

"You're not afraid of me?" The girl's voice was weak and pained, but April could hear the wonder in it.

"Why would I be afraid of you?" asked April, "Well I guess you have a point, you did hold a knife to my throat, and there are what appear to be dead bodies all over the place."

"I mean, you're not afraid because of the way I look?" The girl's voice was quiet and April could see her fighting o say each word.

"Stop talking, you need to rest and let me stop the bleeding." April pulled one of the bags she'd been carrying over to her and pulled a roll of gauze, antiseptic, and medical tape out of it. "This will hurt." She warned as she opened the antiseptic and poured a god bit of it over the wound. The girl hissed in pain but didn't move. After cleaning the wound, April bound it tightly to keep it from bleeding. "That's only a temporary fix, just good enough to move you to somewhere where you can get better help."

"I'm not going to the hospital." Said the girl in a voice that, despite its underlying note of pain, brooked no argument. Then she ordered, "Don't tell anyone about me."

"Fine." Said April as she put her supplies back into the bag, "What are you going to do? The bandage probably won't hold if you try moving on your own, I can't carry you, and you don't want to go to the hospital. So what are you going to do?"

"When you put it that way it really seems to limit my options."

"If we could get to some friends of mine you could get a better bandage, but I don't know how we'd get you there."

"Your friends would be okay with me? They would keep my secret?" From the girl's voice, April could tell that she didn't like the idea of trusting more people and from the way the girls eyes kept trying to close April knew that in a few minutes the girl would be out cold.

"They'd be happy to meet you and your secret would be safe with them. I think you'd like them." As April thought about the boys meeting this girl she couldn't help but let a grin spread across her face. "Plus, they'd be able to help move you."

"If you're sure." The girl's voice faded as she slipped into unconsciousness. April stood and, after searching through her purse, pulled out her cell phone and made a quick call. Once she was done she pout her phone up and gathered her dropped bags together. She only had to wait a few moments before Casey's van pulled up to the alley. With Casey's help she was able to load the girl into the back.

"So," said Casey as he drove, "how'd you meet her? Did you get mugged? I saw that alley."

"No Casey, I didn't get mugged, but I think they might've tried to mug her." Said April, "How much farther do you think? She needs medical attention fast."

"We're here." Casey drove the van into an old garage and closed the door after it. "I'll carry her if you'll carry the bags."

"Okay, just make sure you don't stretch her stomach. That bandage is just temporary." Said April as Casey carefully lifted the girl into his arms. April grabbed the bags and, joining him in the elevator, she pushed the down button.

"How do you think they'll react?" asked April. The only reply from Casey she got was a grunt. "What an articulate boyfriend I have." April commented wryly. Smiling, Casey made another grunting noise. April couldn't help but giggle a little at him, which only made his smile grow.

"You know you love me." Said Casey as he grinned at her.

"Against my better judgment." April smiled as her words made him give her a little mock pout. He was about to say something in reply when the elevator doors opened to reveal a room with a large TV standing against the wall with a couple of couches sitting in front of it. To the left there were three doors, two were open and one seemed to lead into a dojo while the other seemed to lead into a laboratory. The third door was closed. To the right there was a large alcove, which appeared to be the kitchen and dining area. On that side there were also stairs that led to a second level where there were four more doors all of which were closed.

Seeing that the lights in the laboratory were on April called out, "Donatello, I could use some help."

The door to the laboratory opened wider as Donatello came out.

"Hey April, Casey." He called as he walked towards them, "What's u-" his question died in his throat as he saw the girl Casey was carrying. After a few moments of staring he managed to saw, "Is that-" he had to pause again, "Who is she and what exactly is she?"

April had put the bags she'd been carrying down on the coffee table while he'd been trying to figure out how to speak again. "I'm not entirely sure about either, but she's got a bad stomach wound that needs to be fixed. I put a temporary bandage on it but I'm pretty sure it needs stitches. She's probably got a few broken ribs as well."

Donatello seemed to snap out of his daze at her words and began directing Casey to lay her on one of the couches. He disappeared for a moment into his lab to grab supplies. He came back with the medical kit and set to work on the girl's wound immediately. In a few minutes he was done. He'd cleaned the wound, stitched it up, and wrapped it with gauze to protect it. April had then wrapped the girl's chest since, Donatello had found that she had three broken ribs.

"She'll probably be out for a few more hours considering all the blood she lost, but other then that she should be fine, though she shouldn't be exerting herself too much in the next few weeks." Said Donatello as he put the medical kit away. He then went to get Master Splinter from his room where he was meditating. The two returned a few minutes later.

"So, this is our mystery guest." Said Master Splinter as he examined the girl asleep on the couch. "Ms. O'Neil, would you please tell us how you came to meet her?"

"Certainly." Said April. "But first, where are the others?"

"Mikey went to get pizza, Leo and Raph got in a fight so Raph's out cooling down and Leo's out looking for him." Sadly, April found that Donatello's answer was the same as it was the last time she had asked that question.

"Any ideas as to when they'll be back?" Then as an after thought she added, "How many have there been this week?"

Donatello understood what she was asking and sighing said, "Mikey'll probably be back in a few minutes, Leo will most likely get back in half an hour, and Raph will probably come back in an hour or two. There have been 8 in the last six days."

"I suggest that we continue Ms. O'Neil's explanation in the kitchen over some tea." Said Splinter who then began to hobble to the kitchen. The others followed along behind. They'd just reached the kitchen when a loud shout of "I'm Home!" reached their ears. This was quickly followed by a loud "Eeek!" and then a thudding noise. Donatello left the kitchen and returned with a very shocked orange clad turtle.

"Th-there's a g-girl in th-there." Was all he was able to say as his brother led him to a chair, which he sat down on heavily.

"Poor Mikey." Said Donatello as he sat next to him. "Don't worry the shock will fade in a bit."

"B-but, sh-she's g-green!" Mikey exclaimed and his eyes widened as his brain finally caught up with what he'd seen. "She's a mutant like us!" he yelled in excitement.

"Yes Mikey, that'd be the most logical reason for her coloring." Said Donatello in a sarcastic voice.

"Boys, settle down." Splinter Admonished.

"Yes Sensei." Said both turtles together.

"Good," said Splinter, "Now, Ms. O'Neil, please tell us how you met our guest."

April then spent the next twenty minutes explaining what had happened. Just as she was finishing they heard the door to the lair slide open, then the same thudding noise that had accompanied Mikey's entrance. This time both of the turtles went to retrieve their shocked leader. So April had to tell the whole story all over again.

"So," said Leo once the story was over, "we don't really know anything about her, other then the fact that she's a mutant like us and has some combat training.

"We'll have to wait till she wakes up before we can ask her any questions." Said Donatello.

"When d you think that'll be?" Asked Mikey.

"Well, considering how much blood she lost and the exact time when she fell unconscious," said Don as he calculated in his head, "she should wake up sometime within the next thirty minutes. Just as he said that the door to the lair opened for a third time.

"I am not repeating the story again." Said April as she stood up from the table and dumped her teacup into the sink. "One of you guys can explain it all to Raph." As she spoke she walked back into the living area. The turtles followed her, leaving Master Splinter and Casey to take care of the dirty dishes. Master Splinter set Casey to cleaning quickly.

April and the three turtles walked into the living room area expecting to see yet another shocked turtle. Instead they were greeted with the sight of a shocked turtle laying flat on his back looking up into shocked eyes of the green girl that was pinning him to the floor. The strange sight caused the four of them to freeze where they were. They were all still for so long that Casey and Master Splinter washed and dried all the cups and joined them. Splinter was the first to break the frozen silence.

"Would you mind letting my son up." Splinter asked the girl in a gentle voice. In a daze she slowly got off the red clad turtle stood up and turned to face them. Her shocked eyes widened as she took in the other three turtles and the giant rat. "Raphael, stand up and stop staring. It isn't polite to stare at your guests."

Splinter's words seemed to snap Raphael out of his daze and he quickly stood up. "Yes Sensei." Raph's deeper voice seemed to snap the girl out of her dazed state and her eyes immediately flew to April.

"Where am I?" The girl's voice was much stronger then it had been in the alleyway. "Who are you people?" Her questions were asked in a way that demanded to be answered.

"You're in our home. It's somewhere in the sewers." Leo calmly answered her first question.

"Is that it?" She asked incredulously, "Somewhere in the sewers? Don't you know where your own home is?"

Leo looked a little taken aback by her response and his mouth was opened partially in surprise.

Raphael gave a small snicker at his older brother's expression and then answered the girl's second question when she looked at him. "I'm Raph, the orange one's Mikey, the purple one's Donny, and the Fearless Leader over there is Leo." He then began pointing to the other's as he gave their names, "That there's Casey, Master Splinter, and you already know April." After he'd introduced everyone he folded his arms across his chest. "So," he asked, "what's your name?"

The girl continued to look at the others for a moment before slowly turning and examining Raph, starting at his head, going down to his toes, and then going back up again. The she simply said, "My name's Camilla."

"How do you feel?" Asked Donatello. "I managed to clean and close your wound, but you lost a lot of blood before you got down here, enough to make you pass out. Do you feel light headed or anything?"

She just stood in silence for a minute and when she spoke her voice was much quieter, "I do feel a little light and you're faces do keep getting blurry."

"You should probably sit down and eat something to get your blood pressure back up." As Donatello spoke he saw her waver once on her feet.

"You're probably right." Her voice began to take on a quivering tone as her body swayed even more. "You sound just like Helen does whenever I get home from a fight." And with those words her eyes shut and her body toppled backward.

Everyone moved forwards to try and catch her, but Raph got to her first since he was closest. Picking her up he held her with one arm under her shoulders and the other under her knees. Once he was supporting all of her weight and her head rested against his shoulder he looked up at the others and asked, "Now what am I supposed to do?"

"Well Raph," Said Donatello with a slight smirk, "Since you caught her, I suggest that you be a gentleman and give up your room so she can sleep there."

"What?" exclaimed Raph.

"Quiet bro." said Mikey as he grinned from ear to ear at his brother, "What'll you do if you wake her up?"

Raphael looked at him quizzically, "What do you mean? If she wakes up we'll just feed her or somethin'."

"Yeah, but what will she do?" Asked his orange clad brother cryptically. When his brother just continued to stare at him he said, "I mean you are holding her pretty close."

Raphael looked down at the green Camilla who was unconscious in his arms and his cheeks turned an even darker shade of green as he blushed.

Splinter saved Raphael from more embarrassment by saying, "The girl shall sleep in one of the spare rooms. Leonardo, prepare the room for her. Donatello, set up a monitor so that we will know when she awakens. Ms. O'Neil, would you mind getting some other clothes for her to wear?"

"I'd be happy to go get her an outfit or two from my apartment." Said April. When Splinter nodded to her in thanks she said, "I should be able to get them ready in a few minutes if Michelangelo wants to come along he can then bring them back."

"That would be fine." Said Splinter.

April nodded to him and then turned to Casey and Michelangelo and ordered, "Let's go then boys." The two followed her out of the lair with Casey saying a quick farewell to Raph as he got into the elevator. Leonardo left to make up the guest room, leaving Raph alone with Splinter and an unconscious girl.

"What should I do Sensei?" asked Raph as he looked at his father and teacher.

"Right now you must simply wait for the room to be ready." Seeing his sons unhappy look Splinter continued, "Consider this training for both your patience and your strength." Even though his son didn't look any happier Splinter said nothing more and went to his room to begin his meditations.

So Raph was left standing by himself in the living room holding an unconscious girl in his arms, waiting for his brother to finish making a bed for her. After a few minutes of doing nothing he began to get restless. So he turned his attention to the strange girl in his arms. He examined her face, hair, and arms before carefully looking over the bandages that covered her stomach. He then entertained himself by thinking up different weapons that could have caused the wound. He'd just thought of a cake cutter when Leo came back saying that he was done.

Raph quickly placed the girl in her bed and, much to Leo's amusement, tucked her in. Seeing his brother's smile Raph gave an internal sigh before walking pointedly past him and into the living room where he turned on the TV. Leo and Donny joined him and together they watched the 11:00 news as they waited for either the girl to wake up or for Mikey to return. Which ever came first.


	2. Breakfast Conversations

**Author's Note**

Hello everyone. Thank you to those who read and special thanks to **Villiage** and **Candlelit1** for reviewing. Sorry it took so long for me to post, but school and sickness delayed my writing.

I will endeavor to get the next chapter up faster. The more you review the more I feel encouraged to write!

**Disclaimer**

I do not own any of the Turtles or their friends despite my fervent wishing. All members of the Alden family are mine though as is any semblance of plotline found in this story.

**Breakfast Conversations**

"_It is better to keep a friend from falling than to help him up." – Unknown_

Camilla woke to find herself alone in a dark room, lying on a bed. This struck her as strange since she couldn't remember how she'd gotten in the bed, her bed had been burned in the fire, and she never slept alone since her sisters were always in the same room. After lying in the dark for a few minutes she was able to recall her meeting with the woman named April in the alley, her injury, her meeting of the turtles, and her subsequent lapse in consciousness.

She sat up right as she realized that the one to put her in the bed had to have been one of the turtles since none of the others had really seemed fast enough to catch her before she hit the ground. Which she was certain she hadn't since she couldn't find any new bruises other then the ones from where she'd been hit in the alley. Her mouth opened partially in shock as she fully realized that one of the mutant turtles had carried her. She felt her cheeks burn as she blushed at the thought of one of them carrying her.

Camilla's thoughts came to an abrupt stop as the door to the room opened to reveal the red clad turtle. Her cheeks turned an even darker green as her blushing increased and she realized that this was the turtle that she had pinned to the floor after she'd first woken up. Camilla hoped the darkness hid her embarrassment.

Mikey had returned with some clothes a few minutes after Donny had finished setting up a monitoring system. The four turtles had then forsaken the 11:00 news in favor of watching a marathon of movies instead. However, they all fell asleep in random positions on the couch during the first movie.

Since he was the lightest sleeper of them all, only Raph had woken up when the monitor had let off it's quiet beeping. A quick glance at the clock had shown it to be about 4:00 in the morning. With a grunt of annoyance he'd gotten up and gone to check on their guest. He opened the door to find her sitting up in the bed. As she heard the door creek open she turned to stare at him.

Feeling uneasy at being the only object of her attention he said, "What, you never seen a giant mutant turtle before?" His voice seemed to jolt her out of whatever thoughts she'd been having and she turned her face away from him and rubbed her face with her hands.

"How'd I get here?" she asked in a quiet voice before turning back to look at him.

Her abrupt question startled him a little but he didn't let his surprise show on his face. "I put you there after you fainted." As he spoke he flipped the light switch up and flooded the room with light. At his words he saw a faint dark green color spread across her light green cheeks before she turned away again.

Now with the light on and without the shock of her jumping on him, Raph was able to get a good look at her. She was a lighter green then any of his brothers and him. He could tell that she wasn't a turtle, she didn't have a plastron or a shell. He'd have to ask Donny later if he new what kind of mutant she was.

Remembering what Donny had said about her fainting being a side effect of her blood loss he asked, "You hungry?" She didn't turn back to face him but he did see her glance at him from the corner of her eye and give him a slight nod. That being all the confirmation he needed he said, "Come on then."

She did turn then and, throwing the blankets back, swung her legs over the side of the bed and attempted to stand. She managed to stay upright for a few seconds before her knees buckled and she fell forward into his chest. Raph's arms wrapped around her instinctively to keep her from falling to the ground. After his brain caught up to what his arms had done he simply froze.

She leaned against his chest as she focused all of her attention on staying conscious and clearing her vision of the black spots that were trying to take over. Eventually her vision cleared enough for her to see clearly and she found that all there was for her to see was a large, plastron covered chest and two well-muscled, green arms, which were holding her upright. Her cheeks took on a new level of heat as she blushed once again.

She quickly tried to push herself away, but as soon as he'd released her, her knees collapsed under her weight and she fell into him again.

"Well, you obviously can't walk right now." Said Raph.

"Yeah." Was all she said, her head was spinning and she was having trouble forming words, let alone sentences. She tried to take a step away from him but fell once again.

"Okay, this is gettin' us nowhere." As he spoke, Raph stopped her fall and scooped her up in his arms. She let out a small 'eek!' as she felt herself lifted into the air.

Before she could protest, he'd left the room and headed for the kitchen.

"I don't need you to carry me." Said Camilla as they walked past the couch. She was going to say something else but fell silent when she saw the other three turtles sprawled out asleep.

Leonardo was sitting on the right side of the couch with his head tilted back, resting on the back of the couch. Mikey was using his left thigh as a pillow and had his arms wrapped around Leo's leg. His legs were curled up tight to his chest to make room for Donatello who was sitting on the left side. His head was cushioned by his left arm, which was resting on the arm of the couch.

Camilla had to put a hand over her mouth to stifle the giggle that she let out.

"Do they always sleep like that?" she asked Raph.

"No." replied Raph as he kept walking, "Mikey's usually upside down, Donny's usually got a book covering his head, and Leo's usually up and practicing already."

"He really gets up at four in the morning to practice?" she asks with a slightly incredulous tone.

"Okay," says Raph, "not at four. Maybe five though."

They'd reached the kitchen and he deposited her in one of the chairs.

"That's more believable. What does he practice?"

"He usually practices with his swords, but sometimes he just runs through his forms. What do you want to eat?" as he spoke, Raph had pulled a plate out of one of the cupboards, placed it on the counter and then opened the fridge. "We've got leftover pizza, lasagna, and mac'n'cheese."

"What type of pizza?"

Raph pulled the box out and inspected the pizza inside, "Sausage, chicken, or marshmallows?"

"Marshmallows?"

"Yeah, don't ask. It was one of Mikey's."

"I'll have chicken."

As he set the box next to the plate he asked, "How many do you want?"

"Um, three." Her stomach let out a rumble. "Make that five."

Raph smirked at her as he put the slices on the plate and set it in the microwave. The two of them sat in silence as they waited for it to finish. When the timer reached ten seconds remaining, Raph turned his full attention to it and watched it count down the final few numbers. Raph jerked the door open just as it hit one.

"Why'd you do that?" asked Camilla.

"Do what?" Raph placed the steaming plate in front of her and, retrieving two cups from another cabinet, got two cups of water. He placed one in front of her and then sat down with the other in the seat across from her.

"Stop it before it hit zero?"

Oh." Said Raph, "If you let it beep, no matter how tired they are, everyone in the lair will be in here in seconds. Especially Mikey if you're heating pizza."

"How does he know if your heating pizza?" She was already half way through her third slice.

"No idea." Raph shook his head before asking, "So, how'd you meet April?"

"They didn't tell you?"

"They told me, but I wanna know what happened to make you meet her." The confused look she gave him prompted him to explain more. "You met April in an alley with unconscious or dead bodies in it with some pretty serious wounds. If you hadn't been wounded, you wouldn't have met April. I want to know why the alley looked like that."

"Oh." Camilla munched on her last slice for a minute before continuing. "Well, believe it or not I was just walking down the street, trying to out run the rain when those bozos jumped out and dragged me into the alley. They demanded something, I refused, and I fought back." She finished with a shrug and pushed her now empty plate away from her.

"So how'd you get injured?" asked Raph. Seeing she was done he took her plate to the sink and began washing it.

"One of them had a knife. I thought I'd already taken him down, but he got up while my back was turned and surprised me."

"What martial art do you practice?"

"What makes you think I do?"

Raph dried the plate with a towel and placed it back in the cupboard before saying, "You must practice something, April told us how many guys were in the alley. So you either take a martial art or you get in a lot of fights. Or you might do both." He sat back down and looked at her expectantly. "So which one is it?"

Camilla let out a sigh and said, "Both. I have the worst luck, I've been pulled into so many dark allies unwillingly that I've lost count. So my family insisted I learn something to protect myself with."

"So you've got family?" Raph noticed her stiffen slightly at his question. "I'll take that as a yes. Let me guess, you love them but they're annoying and never leave you alone?"

She smiled at him and relaxed a little. "Yeah. I've got three sisters."

"Are they all mutants too?" she raised her eyebrow at his choice of words. He raised his hands in a placating manor as he said, "Hey, I'd say somethin' else but I don't know what you are."

"It's okay. My oldest sister's human and the younger two are mutants. And for your information, I'm part Lizard. My second youngest sister's a squirrel and the youngest is actually a chipmunk. No, none of us are related by blood we were all just raised together."

"I've got four questions." Said Raph, "Who raised you? What're your family's names? How old are you and your siblings? And if you're part lizard, what else are you?"

"Okay, we were raised by a human named Jacob Alden. He raised us along with his daughter Helen. Helen and I are both 16; the squirrel is Juliana, she's 15; and the chipmunk is Ida, and she's 6." Seeing Raph's confused look at Ida's age she explained, "Jacob found Juliana and I at the same time and he periodically checks the spot where he found us. He found Ida there and she joined the family."

"So," said Raph, "what are you other then just lizard?"

"Oh, um," she lowered her head and turned to the side so her face was obscured by her hair, "I'm part plant."

"Part plant? How'd that happen?" Raph saw a dark green spread across her cheeks at his words.

"I have no idea, but Juliana and Helen love coming up with theories." She turned back to face him and Raph saw that her cheeks had returned to their normal coloring. "Besides most people think I'm just a plant without any lizard."

"Why do they think that?" asked Raph.

"It's the hair." She flipped her hair back over her shoulder and then grinning at him said, "And no one ever sees my tail."

"You have a tail?" Raph's eyeridge rose with his question.

"Yep." She smiled and laughed, "I'm surprised you didn't feel it when you carried me. My coat must've hidden it. By the way, why am I still wearing it?"

"Oh, uh." Raph looked slightly guilty as he spoke, "No one really thought about it. Sorry."

"It's okay. I just hate sleeping in my clothes." As she spoke Leo entered the kitchen with Donny following behind him yawning as he stretched.

"Well," said Donatello as he grabbed two plates for Leo and himself, "We could have taken your clothes off you, but then you wouldn't have had anything to wear."

Camilla's cheeks became a dark green as he spoke. "No, that's fine. I just like to avoid it when I can."

"Mikey went over to April's yesterday and she sent him back with some clothes that she thought might fit you." Said Raph, "If you want to you could take a shower and change into them."

"Okay."

"Though, what'll you do about your tail?" said Raph. He smirked as he added, "Go without pants?"

Camilla couldn't do anything for a moment but stare at him with her mouth slightly open. Her mouth snapped shut and her whole face turned a few shades darker.

"Is that the equivalent to a blush?" asked Donny as he put the two plates, now loaded with pizza, into the microwave.

"Ah, yes."

"You have a tail?" Asked Leo. "What are exactly are you? You're obviously not a turtle."

"She's part lizard part plant." Said Raph who still had a smirk on his face.

"Really?" Said Donny. "That's amazing. If you don't mind I'd love to do a DNA test on you."

"Yeah, okay. I'd have to ask Helen and Juliana first though." Camilla's face was slowly lightening.

"Who're they?" Leo's voice was slightly muffled by the fact that his head was inside the fridge. "Family?"

"Yeah-" Camilla was cut off by the ding of the microwave signaling that it was done.

Donny had just pulled the plates out when Mikey came running into he kitchen.

"You didn't eat my pizza did you?" he asked worriedly as he went over to the pizza box.

"Of course not." Said Donny. "If anyone else tried eating that they'd probably be sick for weeks. There are some things only your stomach can handle.

"Okay good." Mikey quickly began the process of heating his food up and Donny and Leo sat down at the table.

"So where are those clothes?" asked Camilla.

"They're on the recliner in the living room." Said Leo as he began eating.

Camilla pushed her chair back from the table and managed to make it all the way to the doorway before her legs gave out and she toppled backwards. Remembering her inability to walk, Raph had gotten up and followed her. He caught her before she hit the floor and set her back on her feet. Seeing that she was swaying slightly, he wrapped his left arm around her waist to steady her. With his help she managed to collect the clothes from the chair and head for the bathroom.

Raph reentered the kitchen a few minutes later and was met with the stares of his brothers.

"What?" he asked as he made himself a plate of mac'n'cheese.

"Dude," said Mikey, his mouth full of pizza, "are you crushing?"

"What?" asked Raph as he raised his eyeridge.

"Dude," Mikey swallowed before continuing, "you are totally crushing on her."

"You do seem to be attracted to her." Said Donny.

"What're you talking about?" Raph started eating as he waited for an answer.

"Well," said Leo joining in the conversation, "you've spent quite a bit of time around her. And you made her food and washed her dishes. You never do things for people like that."

"Yeah." Added Mikey.

"How do you know I did that?" challenged Raph.

"She could barely walk after eating," said Donny as he gave the factual part of the argument, "There's no way she could have walked from the room to here before. So you must've carried her, you're not patient enough to have helped her walk the distance. So her inability to walk would also keep her from getting herself food, or cleaning up after herself. And since there's no chicken pizza left she must've eaten. But there are also no dishes which means they must've been washed already and you were the only one in here able to stand up long enough to do that."

"So?" Raph got up and took his plate to the sink and washed it as he spoke, "That just says I was being a good host."

"Yeah," said Mikey, "but you didn't have to put your arm around her waist to help her walk. You could've just held onto her arm or had her hold onto your arm."

Raph froze for a second at his brother's words before he finished with the plate and said, "I wasn't really thinking about that."

"So what were you thinking about?" asked Mikey in a suggestive tone.

"Mikey, shut up." Raph's voice was low and his words came out in a growl.

"Come on guys," said Donny trying to calm his more violently inclined brother down, "It's too early to start fighting."

Leo suddenly looked up at Raph and asked, "You didn't leave her alone to take a shower did you?"

"You wanted him to stay?" asked Mikey incredulously.

"No." said Leo, "It's just that if she could barely walk, how would she be able to stand long enough to take a shower?"

"She already thought of that." Said Raph and Leo relaxed, "She said she'd just take a bath instead.

"So what do we do now?" asked Mikey.

They had all finished eating and all but Mikey had washed his plate.

"Raph could tell us what he learned about our guest?" suggested Donny.

"How do you know we even talked to each other?" demanded Raph.

"You didn't turn the monitor off." Explained Donny, "the readout screen shows that it's been going off since around four. You must have talked about something in the hour before we woke up." The four of them walked into the living room where they all sat down and he added, "Not even you like sitting still and silent for that long when there's someone to talk to."

After a little grumbling Raph told them what he'd learned as they waited for their guest to reemerge.


	3. Talk of the Past and Future

**Author's Note**

I was sick and had nothing to do since my mom forgot to pick my homework up. So I wrote! I hope you like this chapter. I'm trying to move the storyline ling so that I can actually get to the plotline that I've semi-thought up.

Thank you if you read the last chapter, but I think it's too early to get reviews. Please review. It makes me feel happy that someone's enjoying my writing other then me.

**Disclaimer**

I do not own any characters from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. However, I do own all of the Alden family and the newly imagined plot that shall be appearing eventually.

Thank you

**Talk of the Past and Future**

"_Other things may change us, but we start and end with family." – Anthony Brandt_

"So what now?" asked Mikey.

"She should probably contact her family so that they don't get too worried." Said Leo at his words Donatello pulled his shell cell out and laid it on the coffee table.

The four stopped talking as they heard the bathroom door open.

"Can I have some help?" They all looked and saw Camilla through the open doorway. She was leaning against the counter wearing a grey sweater and a knee length black skirt.

"Of course." Said Leo as he got up and walked over to her. He offered her his arm and she was able to walk to the couch leaning on his arm for support.

"So the clothes fit okay?" asked Mikey as Camilla sat down on couch between him and Raph, and Leo sat in the recliner.

"Yeah, they fit pretty well." As she spoke she flattened the skirt down, "I'm just glad she sent this skirt instead of pants."

"What would you have done if April had only sent pants?" asked Raph as he smirked at her.

"I would've had to put my dirty pants on." She glared at him as she added, "I would not go around bottomless."

Raph just continued to smirk at her, which seemed to make her glare intensify.

Feeling the hostility level in the air rise Donny tried to distract Camilla. "You should probably call your family to let them know that you're okay, right?"

Donny's question did what he desired and she turned her attention away from Raph and fixed it on him instead. "I guess so."

"You don't sound very sure." Said Leo.

She focused her gaze on her lap as she said, "I'm not sure if I want to call them."

"You don't want them to worry do you?" said Mikey, adding his say to the conversation.

"No, not really. But the reason I was even outside with the threat of rain was because I had a fight with Helen and Juliana." Sighing she continued, "Our house burned down a few days ago and Jacob died."

The brothers shared a stunned look but didn't say anything to interrupt her.

"The fire started sometime after midnight on the ground floor when we were all asleep. Jacob and Helen slept on the second floor while Juliana, Ida, and I all slept in the basement. We all woke up when the smoke alarms went off and we followed the plans we'd practiced incase of such an emergency. Helen and Jacob would exit from the top and Juliana, Ida, and I would leave through a tunnel that led to the house next door."

Camilla paused to take a deep breathe before finishing her story. "Everything probably would have worked out fine, except Ida had woken up a little earlier to go to the bathroom, which was on the ground floor. When the fire started she was cut off from the rest of us and none of us realized what had happened till we'd all met up outside in the backyard. Jacob ordered us all to stay put and then went back inside. He managed to save Ida, but his injuries and smoke inhalation caused him to die on the way to the hospital."

The turtles didn't say anything as they digested what she said. Mikey, the first one to move, wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a big a hug. For a minute she didn't respond, then she turned her face to his chest, curled her legs up underneath her and hugged him back.

"You really should call them to let them know you're okay." Said Leo and he held Donny's shell cell out to her. "They're probably worried sick about you right now."

When Camilla didn't make any move to answer Donny took the cell and asked, "Would you like us to tell them you're okay? Then they might not worry quite as much."

She didn't say anything, just gave a small nod and continued to hug Mikey as if he was a life ring keeping her from drowning.

"What's the number?" asked Donny. As she listed out a string of numbers he punched them in and then held the phone to his ear as he waited for someone to pick up.

A faint ringing noise could be heard from the cell, but was abruptly cut off by a muffled, "Hello?"

"Um, hello." Said Donny. "I'm looking for either a Helen or a Juliana Alden."

"This is Helen." Said the voice from the phone. "Who is this?"

"Oh," said Donny, "my name is Donatello Hamato. I'm calling on behalf of your sister Camilla."

Before he could say anything else the voice interrupted him with a frantic set of questions, "Camilla? Where is she? How do you know her? Is she alright?"

"Wait Ms. Alden. Let me answer those questions before you ask more." Said Donny in a calming voice. "Camilla's sitting beside me. I know her through a friend of mine. And she's not perfectly healthy, but with a little rest and a healthy diet she will be. Now is there anything else that you would like to know?"

The voice was silent for a moment before speaking, "What do you mean she's not perfectly healthy? How does your friend know her? And where **is** she?"

Donny gave a small sigh before answering, "She's not perfectly healthy because she has a multitude of bruises, three cracked ribs, and a knife wound that stretches from one side of her stomach to the other."

Donny cut of the protests that the voice began to make by saying, "Don't worry she's been treated, all she needs now is rest and nutritional food. My friend knows her because she found Camilla in her injured state and brought her to my family and me for help. She's in our living room sitting on the center cushion of our couch, right between my brothers Michelangelo and Raphael. Though I guess that she's really sitting **on** Mikey since she-"

The rest of whatever Donny was going to say was cut off as he was hit in the head with a pillow by Camilla and then tackled to the ground by Mikey, who tried to wrestle the phone away from him.

"No!" yelled Donny as he attempted to keep the phone away from Mikey only to have it snatched out of his hands by Leo.

"Give it here Leo." Said Raph as he pulled Camilla back onto the couch after Mikey's lunge for Donatello had caused her to slide to the floor.

"No, give it to me!" yelled Mikey from his newly acquired perch on top of Donny's shell.

"I was in the middle of saying something." Complained Donny from his position on the floor. "You could've at least waited for me to finish Mikey."

"Well you didn't have to go into so much detail in that last answer." Said Raph. "Mikey was probably afraid her sister would get the wrong idea."

"Exactly." Said Mikey. "Besides," he continued with a big grin on his face, "we all know that Raph's the one who's crushing."

The startled look on Camilla's face at that news went unnoticed by all but Leonardo as Raph snarled and lunged off the couch and hit Mikey in a tackle. Poor Donatello was stuck under the too fighting turtles.

Seeing his purple clad brother getting squished Leo set the phone on the coffee table and tried to pull his more violent brother away. His attempt failed in that respect, but succeeded in that he managed to pull Raph away long enough for Mikey to jump up and run away. Raph quickly followed and the two took off through the lair leaving Leo and Donny sitting on the floor and Camilla slowly coming out of her shock on the couch.

"Hello? Hello?" said a small muffled voice, drawing the three's attention back to the phone. Camilla shook her head to say she didn't want it and Donny waved his hand, indicating he didn't care. So Leo picked up the phone.

"Sorry about that." He said.

"That's o- Wait, who are you?" demanded the voice.

"My name's Leo. I'm the fourth of Donny's brothers."

"Oh." Said the voice. "What happened to Donatello and what were those loud noises?"

"Donny got hit in the head by a pillow and a tackling Mikey. The loud noises you heard were a result of the fight that ensued."

"Why was there a fight?"

"Donny was using to much detail and it was annoying people, your sister was the one who threw the pillow. The second part of the fight, which is still being fought, is between Mikey and Raph because Mikey made a comment about Raph, which Raph didn't take to well."

"Oh, okay." said the voice which now sounded extremely confused. "Can I talk to Camilla?"

"I'm not sure." Said Leo.

Camilla shook her head and said, "I don't want to talk to her yet."

"She says she'll call you back later." Relayed Leo into the phone.

"Well, alright. But I want to make sure she's really okay. Ask her for the Codeword." Ordered the voice.

"Um, okay." Leo looked questioningly at Camilla, "She wants a codeword."

"Tell her Bert and Ernie." Said Camilla as she rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"She says Bert and Ernie." Said Leo. His face was quizzical as he added, "That's the weirdest codeword I've ever heard." He heard the voice give out a small sigh of relief at his words.

"So she really is okay. That's good. What do you think about the fact that she's green and has a tail?" asked the voice curiously.

"She's green, we don't really have any opinions or thoughts on the matter." Said Leo, but he was cut off before he could say any more by Mikey. He'd run back into the living room and then attempted to hide behind his blue clad brother as Raph came charging into the room after him.

When he heard Leo say that, Mikey snatched the phone from him yelling into it, "I think it's awesome!"

"Don't yell. Who are you?"

"I'm Mikey. GAH!" Raph had just succeeded in reaching tackling Mikey to the floor again. "Help me!" he yelled into the phone, which was then pulled away by a growling Raph.

"What is going on?" demanded the voice.

"Sorry, but Mikey's not going to be able to talk much for a while." His voice came out in a deep growl and he sat on Mikey's shell in a position similar to the one Mikey had put Donny in a few minutes ago.

"You must be Raph." Said the voice. "What do you think about Camilla's coloring? It doesn't freak you out or anything does it?"

"What? No. Why would it do that?" Raph's words were punctuated by a groan from Mikey.

"Can I please speak to Camilla?" asked the voice tiredly."

"She'll call you back later."

"Let me speak to her **NOW**!" ordered the voice.

"NO!" replied Raph, "She'll call you back later. Goodbye." And with that he snapped the phone shut, abruptly hanging up.

"Raph!" yelled Leo and Donny together.

"Now she's going to think we're keeping her here against her will or something." Said Donny.

"Oh well. Camilla can explain it to her later." Was all Raph said as he gave Mikey one last thwack on the head before climbing off him. "I'm goin' out. I'll be back later.

"Raph." Called Leo. But he'd already grabbed his hat and coat and left the lair. Leo let out a sigh as he picked the phone up from where it'd fallen on the floor.

"What has happened here?" asked Splinter, his voice startling everyone.

"We called my family." Said Camilla. She blushed as she added, "Sorry about the noise."

"It's alright dear. But what caused it? And where is Raphael?" asked Splinter.

"I didn't want to talk to them yet, so Donatello called them for me. There were a few fights for the phone and Raphael said he was going out." Explained Camilla.

Splinter nodded in understanding before turning to the turtles. "My sons, warm up for today's lesson. I will join you in a few minutes. I wish to speak to Camilla alone for a moment."

The three brothers bowed to Splinter before heading for the Dojo, leaving Splinter alone with Camilla.

"Thank you for letting me stay here." Said Camilla. "I hope I'm not being too troublesome."

"You are welcome to stay as long as you want." Said Splinter as he perched himself on the edge of the recliner. "I heard your story."

Camilla looked at him in surprise. "How? You weren't here."

"When you live with four boys for as long as I have, you learn to hear the things that are out of the ordinary, no matter where you are." Splinter smiled as he added, "And having a quiet conversation in front of the television is definitely out of the ordinary."

His smile widened as she laughed, but disappeared when he continued. "Where is your family staying now?"

Camilla sighed and looked away from him and a sad look passed over her features. "They were staying in an abandoned warehouse, but were going to have to move sometime this week because someone has bought it."

"Where will you live then?"

"I'm not sure. Helen could live anywhere she wanted. Several of Jacob's work buddies have offered to house her till she turns eighteen, but she's turned them all down to stay with us."

"What was your fight about?"

Camilla looked down at her lap as she spoke, "She was trying to get me to do something because she didn't have time to do it herself, because she's still going to school. We argued over the fact that she put herself in charge even though we're the same age. When Juliana joined in and took Helen's side I just lost it and left." She looked back up at him before continuing, "I admit that I do have some anger issues, but I've never been angry enough to leave before."

"What do you usually do when you are angry?"

"I usually lock myself in my room till I coo off."

"What do you do while you are in your room?"

"I read, write, listen to music, or work out till I fall asleep."

Splinter was silent for a moment before he said, "You are very much like my son Raphael, though you appear to be able to channel your anger better."

"I did notice that Raph had a short fuse." Camilla smirked as she said that.

Splinter chuckled slightly before replying, "Yes he does. But I think he will learn to manage his anger in time."

The two sat in silence for a moment before Splinter continued. "Now, I know this may be slightly presumptuous, but I was wondering if you would like to stay here."

"I can stay till I'm healed?"

"No, I meant would you like to live here with us?" a shocked look was his only answer so he continued. "We have enough extra space that you could even have your whole family move in if you liked. And if you find us completely uncivilized and wish to live elsewhere, we would be happy to set you up in another section of the sewers."

"Y-you mean l-live with you h-here?" Camilla managed to stutter.

"Yes" Splinter gave her another smile. "Think about it, call your family and discuss it with them."

She nodded slightly and leaned back into the couch to think as he got up to go to the Dojo.

When he reached the door he turned back and said, "If you wish to get up or move somewhere simply say one of my sons' names and they'll come help you." When he saw her nod in confirmation he entered the Dojo.

Camilla had only thought about it for a few minutes before she picked up the shell cell that Leo had left on the table and hit the redial button.

After it had rung twice a voice answered, "Hello?"

"Hi Jul."

"Cam! Where are you are you okay? Helen told me you were injured at some strange house with lots of guys! Are you okay? Have they hurt you? Where are you, we'll come get you?"

"It's okay Jul. I'm fine. Donny patched me up and I should be back to normal in a few weeks. Listen Jul, the guys here didn't tell you everything, but I don't think you'll believe me if I just tell you."

"Cam what are you talking about?"

"Well, their father asked me if I wanted to stay here. He said the whole family could come; they have tons of extra space that they don't know what to do with. I think we should take him up on the offer."

"What? Cam, you just met these people! How do you know you can even trust them? How do you know they won't sell us to a zoo or something?"

"Trust me they would never do something like that."

"How would you know? You just met them!"

"Will you give a chance to explain?" after silence greeted Camilla she continued, "These guys would never betray us and they're really nice. I really think we should at least take them up on their offer till we can find a place of our own. If you meet them you'll understand why I trust them to keep our secret."

"But Cam-"

"Will you just meet them? I shouldn't be moved to far anyway because of my injuries. Here I have access to medical help."

"I'll-I'll talk to Helen about it when she gets back from school. Okay?"

"Okay, I'll call you back for an answer at 6:00 to get your answer."

"Alright. Bye Cam, I hope you're right about those guys."

"I am. Bye Jul."

The line went dead and she snapped the phone shut and placed it back on the coffee table. Bored and tired she stretched out on the couch and grabbing the remote, flipped the TV on. Finding an old Sci-Fi movie she put the remote back on the table. Half way through the movie her eyelids fluttered shut and she fell asleep. And while she slept she dreamt of fires and giant turtles.


	4. Offers, Decisions, & Wasting Time

Author's Note

**Author's Note**

I'm sorry that I haven't updated lately. I truly am. I have no good excuse other then the fact that I am apparently a very ill child. Who, on occasion, gets writer's block, which lasts for a month or two. But now I'm hoping to get at least a few chapters done and posted.

I should have lots of writing time this summer as well so I'm hoping to finish a bunch of stories then. Please, please, please review. It really makes me feel good as a writer. Even if you just say 'Hi' it lets me know you actually read the whole thing. So, please review.

Thank you to those who did review. Namely **ChibiLover123**. This chapter is dedicated to you and the fact that you review.

**Disclaimer**

I _still_ do not own any of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles characters despite my last plot to make them mine. However, the Alden family and the plot, which I'm now fixing into it's final form, _do_ belong to me.

Thank you for reading and reviewing. Enjoy!

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

**Offers, Decisions, & Wasting Time**

"_Landing: A controlled mid-air collision with a planet." – Unknown_

Raph sighed as he looked down at the water far below. He was perched on the roof of a warehouse that over looked the bay. He always came here when he wanted to think and clear his head. But for some reason, the normally relaxing view was doing nothing but frustrating him.

He sighed again as he tried to figure out what exactly had made him leave the lair so early in the morning. Usually he didn't feel the need to escape till at least after lunch. It wasn't even 8:00 a.m. yet!

He dropped his head into his hands as he let out a groan. Taking a deep breath he tried to think of all the different emotions he had felt and to connect them with what might have caused them, to see which one might have caused him to feel the need to leave.

He'd been amused by Donny's words on the phone and his brothers' antics and he'd felt happy when they'd all eaten breakfast together. He'd been angry at Mikey, which wasn't too unusual but he usually only left the lair when he was mad at Leo. So he'd been happy, angry, and something else.

Raph's eyes widened as he realized that he had been feeling slightly self-conscious and embarrassed all morning. His eyes got even bigger and his cheeks turned dark green as he thought of why he'd been feeling that way.

"Holy shit." He dropped his head back into his hands again. "This can't be happening to me." As he spoke the clouds that had been blocking the sun decided they were tired of doing nothing and began to dump water on the city. He raised his head, and ignoring the rain pelting his face, asked no one in particular, "Do you hate me? Do you enjoy seeing me suffer?" The only reply he got was a crack of thunder and an increase in the amount of water hitting him. "I guess you do."

Sighing he stood and began his walk back to the lair. He knew he couldn't stay out too long in the cold rain or else his systems would slowly shut down and force him into hibernation. After a few minutes of jumping from roof to roof he ended up on the ground in front of a manhole. Deciding that this was as good a place as any to enter the sewers, he pulled the cover off and slipped through the hole, pulling the cover back on behind him.

It took him half an hour to get back to the lair, and opening the door he was surprised to see the television on with no one watching it. He peeled his wet coat off his shoulders and hung it and his now soaked hat back on their hooks to dry.

He walked up to the couch to turn the TV off and found Camilla curled up on the couch with the remote held between her arms. He looked at the clock next to the TV and was surprised to see that it was almost 12:00. He hadn't thought he'd been topside for so long.

"Shit!" he swore as he realized he'd completely missed the morning lesson and he thought of how mad Splinter was going to be with him.

"What?" he looked down at the sound and saw Camilla's sleepy eyes blink open and attempt to focus on him. After she was able to force her eyes to stay open she sat up and tried to stretch, but stopped immediately when her ribs gave a twinge of pain in complaint.

"Nothing." Said Raph, "Sorry for waking you."

"It's okay." She yawned as she spoke. "I'm hungry anyway."

"Okay, it's almost lunch time." Feeling bad for waking her up he asked, "Do you want help?"

She slowly stood up and tested her legs, but after a few moments they gave out and Raph had to lunge to catch her falling form.

She squeaked, "Help would be nice."

Raph put her feet back down on the floor and let her put her weight on his arm and shoulder as he led her back into the kitchen. He set her down in a seat before grabbing plates and rummaging through the fridge like he had earlier.

"So, what do you want now?" His voice floated out of the fridge, "All we've got left now is Lasagna and Mac'n'cheese."

"I'll have the Mac'n'cheese."

"Okay." Pulling out the container he emptied it onto the two plates and stuck them both into the microwave.

Feeling uncomfortable, Camilla broke the silence. "So where'd you go?" she asked.

"Huh?" Raph turned away from the microwave as her voice brought him out of his thoughts. He blinked before answering, "I went topside."

"Why'd you run off like that?"

"I got angry." Raph sighed as he thought back to how he'd once gotten so mad he'd nearly beaten Mikey's head in with a lead pipe. "It's best for everyone that I leave when I get mad."

"That makes sense." Camilla's comment caught him off guard.

"You think so?" he asked, "The others are always trying to make me stay and talk, but that just makes me angrier."

"Well," Camilla paused as she thought about it, "sometimes it is good to talk about what made you mad, but sometimes it's best to just step away from the moment and cool down."

Raph opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off by the microwave's repetitive beeping. Setting one plate in front of Camilla and he took the seat across from her with the other plate.

"Mmm." Said Camilla as she picked up her fork and dug in. "I love Mac'n'Cheese."

"Really?" said Raph in a sarcastic voice as he eyed her plate, which was already halfway empty, "I couldn't tell from the way your devouring your food faster then even Mikey's capable of."

Camilla giggled at him as she finished her plate off. "Mmm. Good." She looked at his plate and then asked, "Can I have yours?"

"No!" Raph placed his arm possessively around his plate and mock growled at her, "Mine."

"Please?" she gave him her best innocent and pleading eyes.

Raph sputtered for moment as he looked at her. When her eyes started to fill with liquid and her lip started quivering he sighed and gave in. "Fine, you can have half of it."

She immediately smiled and pushed her plate across the table to him. He grumbled a bit as he pushed half the food onto her plate and slid it back, but he quieted as he watched her happily eat.

They had both just finished when his brothers entered the kitchen followed closely by Splinter.

"Raphael." Splinter's stern tone made Raph wince slightly as he looked up at his Sensei. "Come with me. We will discuss your behavior this morning."

"Yes Sensei." Raph dumped his plate in the sink and then followed Splinter back into the Dojo.

"He's in a lot of trouble isn't he?" Camilla's question, which was more like a comment, was met with three grunts in the affirmative.

"He should know better then to run off like that by now." said Leo as he sat down in the chair to her left. "He gets in trouble for going out at night when no one can see him. Imagine how mad Master Splinter's going to be that he went out in the middle of the day!"

"Especially since it's raining too." Added Donny as he took the seat to her right.

"It's raining?" asked Mikey "How do you know?"

"Raph's coat and hat are soaked Mikey." Said Donny "I doubt he took a swim in the river."

"How does the fact that it's raining make it worse?" asked Camilla.

"We're turtles," Said Donny with a sigh, "we're naturally cold blooded."

He saw Camilla's eyes widen in understanding and left his explanation at that.

"It also doesn't help that he missed today's practice. That alone is enough to earn punishment of some kind." Added Leo. He shook his head as he continued, "What was he thinking?"

"Well, Leo, he probably wasn't." said Donny as he stood and walked over to the fridge. "What do you guys want to eat?"

"What is there?" asked Leo as he pulled the plates out.

"Lasagna."

"Anything else?" asked Leo.

"Nope. We'll have to cook dinner tonight."

"Whose turn is it?" asked Leo.

"Yours." Said Donny.

Camilla noticed how Donny was gripping the handle to the fridge so hard his fingers were turning white as he spoke. She saw Leo wince at the words and Mikey paled considerably as he heard them.

"What's wrong?" she asked as she watched Mikey pale even more.

"Leo's… not the best cook in the world." Said Donny slowly.

Leo snorted and muttered, "That's an understatement."

"I'm sure there are people out there who are worse cooks then you." Said Camilla encouragingly.

The brothers shared a glance before Leo said, "Camilla, the last time I actually cooked dinner I covered the entire kitchen and part of the living room in green sludge."

"What were you making?" Asked Camilla.

"I was making a salad."

Camilla stared at him incredulously before turning to Donny and saying, "You've got to be kidding. How do you create such a mess from making salad?"

Donny winced as he explained, "Leo's salad making skills aren't the best on a good day. He usually ends up getting lettuce everywhere." Camilla smiled as Leo glared at his purple clad brother, but he was just ignored. "So Leo was making salad and getting lettuce everywhere, unfortunately quite a bit of it managed to get into the blender."

"Quite a bit?" exclaimed Mikey who was still slightly pale, "Try half a head of lettuce!"

"Okay." Conceded Donny, "An unusually large amount of lettuce ended up in the blender. Mikey had gone in to the kitchen to see what was for dinner when Leo somehow lost control of the fork he was using and it flew from his hand. It hit the "On" button for the blender and the blender proceeded to spew soggy bits of lettuce all over poor Mikey and the rest of the kitchen. Leo was somehow blocked from the onslaught and didn't get anything on him.

"So he covered everything in soggy bits of lettuce?" said Camilla.

"And more." Said Donny.

"More?" asked Camilla, "What else did he do?"

"He turned the blender off and dumped what was left inside of it into the sink and washed it into the sink disposal unit with water. Mikey helped him by putting some of the lettuce that had gotten on him in as well and Leo went to turn the disposal unit on." Donny paused as he watched his two brothers dish out lasagna and place the plates in the microwave before continuing.

"You remember that fork that somehow flew out of his hand and hit the blender?" Camilla nodded, "Well after hitting the blender it bounced into the sink and down the drain.

Camilla winced slightly as she said, "Oh no, that's got to be some of the worst luck ever."

"Yep." Said Donny as he nodded, "Leo turned the disposal unit on and the thing basically upchucked everything that had gone in it that day. Poor Mikey got the full blast of it along with the rest of the kitchen, while Leo somehow hid under the table and remained clean."

"It took me hours to get all of the junk off." Said Mikey as he sat down with a plate of lasagna. "I had nightmares about exploding salads and sinks for weeks and I still can't look at Leo when he's holding lettuce without losing my appetite."

Silence descended on the table as each one thought about the incident and ate their food. Camilla was starting to feel uncomfortable when Leo broke the silence and asked, "So what should I make for dinner?"

"You're not making dinner!" exclaimed Mikey and Donny nodded his agreement.

"Someone else will cook." Said Donny.

"Yeah, but who?" asked Leo. He could understand why his brothers didn't want him cooking. Even he didn't like eating what he made most of the time.

Splinter chose to reenter the kitchen just as Leo spoke. "Raphael will be taking over Leonardo's turns at cooking as well as his own for the next month."

"Okay." Said Mikey. "I can live with that."

"Good. Now I must return to administer the rest of his punishment." Said Splinter as he left the kitchen once again.

"Mikey, you sure about Raph cooking for an entire month?" asked Donny. "He does tend to only make what he likes."

"That can't be too bad." Said Camilla. "What does he like?"

"Mac'n'cheese." Said all three turtles together.

Camilla stared at them for a moment before she burst out laughing. The brothers just exchanged looks with each other as they watched her laugh for some unknown reason. She held her sides and quickly controlled her laughter so that she was just giggling as she finally tried to explain, "Raph and I ate the mac'n'cheese leftovers earlier and I got him to give me half of his plate. That would explain why he was staring at me in such a weird way. Ow, laughter hurts ribs."

"You actually got Raph to give you half of his serving of mac'n'cheese?" said Mikey incredulously as he stared at her with wide eyes. When Camilla smiled and nodded at him, he asked, "How?"

Her smile grew and she said, "I used my puppy-dog-eyes technique."

"And it really worked?" When he received a nod he bowed his head to her and said, "You must be a master of the art. Please instruct me in your ways."

She giggled at him and then adopted a mock serious expression, "I shall only teach you my ways if you manage to best me in three games of Super Smashbros Brawl."

"I shall not fail in this appointed task." Said Mikey in an equally fake serious voice, "I shall become a master of the puppy-dog-eyes technique and I shall be able to bend everyone to my will."

"But beware," said Camilla in a warning tone, "with great power comes great responsibility."

"Hai." Said Mikey seriously. But as soon as he said it Camilla's face broke into a grin and she fell into a fit of giggles and had to clutch at her sides to keep herself from outright laughing and pulling on her injured ribs. Mikey mock pouted at her for a moment, but his face quickly broke into a large grin and he was stifling giggles himself.

"How are we related to any of them?" asked Leo as he washed his plate and cup in the sink.

"Sometimes I have no idea." Said Donny as he followed his brother out into the living room where they both plopped down in front of the TV. A few minutes later the still giggling duo followed and sat on the floor in front of them.

"What are you doing?" asked Leo as he raised an eyeridge in question.

"If Mikey wants me to teach him my puppy-dog-eyes technique he has to defeat me three times in Super Smashbros Brawl." Said Camilla as she pulled a game controller to her and Mikey set up the game.

"So who are you going to play as?" asked Mikey.

"Marth." Said Camilla as she maneuvered the hand on the screen to choose the intended character. "And I always color him red."

"Why red?" asked Mikey. "I'm gonna be Kirby."

"I have a theory that the different colors have different attacks and stuff. I know it's probably not true, but I stick to it anyway." Explained Camilla. "And besides," she added, "red's my favorite color."

Leo and Donny exchanged a look on the couch, but remained silent.

"So what arena do you want?" asked Mikey. "How about we start off easy? The flying jet?"

"Sure." Said Camilla. Mikey clicked the option and the game began.

Leo and Donny watched the game in silence. The only sounds in the living room were the ones being emitted from the TV and the combatants playing. Every time one of them lost a life a string of 'No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, NOOOO!s' followed by a 'Dang it!' were heard.

The first game went to Mikey, but the second went to Camilla. The games became longer and longer as the two got more familiar with their characters' attacks and defenses. Sometime during the final game Raph and Splinter finally emerged from the dojo. Splinter took one look at the living room and decided to spend an extra hour in meditation. Raph took a seat on the arm of the couch next to Donny and ignored the two questioning looks sent his way.

Leo opened his mouth to ask him something but was cut off by a sudden shout.

"Yes!" yelled Camilla. She had managed to knock Mikey's character out of the arena when her character picked up the special hammer, effectively killing his last life and ending their game. She jumped to her feet and did a small victory dance before plopping down onto the couch between Donny and Raph.

She grinned widely at Mikey and said in a serious voice that didn't fit her expression at all, "I am sorry, but you are not worthy to be my apprentice in the ways of the puppy-dog-eyes technique."

"I feel like I'm missing something vital." Said Raph as he looked at the madly giggling girl sitting next to him warily.

"She was going to teach me how to be a master of the puppy-dog-eyes technique, but only if I beat her at three games of Super Smashbros Brawl." Explained Mikey. He hung his head slightly as he continued with a small disappointed sigh, "I failed and now I'll never be able to make you share your mac'n'cheese."

Raph's eyes widened and he spluttered for a moment before managing to say, "W-what? Why the hell would you want my mac'n'cheese? And why the hell would I ever give you my share if you had your own?"

"You gave Camilla part of your share." Said Mikey in a voice that Raph immediately recognized as being _too_ innocent.

"She needs to regain her strength, so she should eat till she's full." Said Donny sensing his older brother's rising embarrassment and temper and deciding to put a halt to it before another fight broke out.

"Yeah Mikey," said Leo joining in, "he's actually been being a good host."

"Oh, ha ha." Said Raph sarcastically as he rolled his eyes at his older brother. "You act as if that's impossible for me."

"Sometimes it seems like it is." Said Leo with a shrug. Raph glared at him but refrained from doing anything else. Mikey didn't say anything else on the subject, but Raph saw him glance at him out of the corner of his eye.

"So what did Splinter make you do that kept you in there for so long?" asked Camilla as a way to take some of the hostility out of the air.

"Meditation." Growled Raph with obvious distaste in his voice.

Leo shook his head in exasperation, "If you just focused like he said then you'd find that meditation can be extremely useful. It is hardly a punishment."

"For you maybe." Growled Raph in anger as he glared at his older brother once more. "I hate sitting still for so long."

Camilla's laughter broke through the tension that was gathering between the two again. "I can just imagine Master Splinter sitting you down in a corner and telling you to meditate for a two hours on what you'd done wrong." She giggled and exclaimed, "It's like time out for naughty ninjas!"

Upon hearing this Mikey burst out laughing so hard that fell on his side and curled into a ball holding his sides. Donny tried to hide his snickers behind his hands but a few slipped through. Raph just gaped at her for a moment as if she'd gone insane.

"It is not." Said Leo indignantly. "It is an essential part of ninjitsu used to find ones center."

Raph snapped out of whatever daze he'd been in and turned to his brother with an evil smirk. "She's right. It is time out for ninjas."

Leo's reaction to his brother's words was to first splutter incoherently, then to madly point his finger at him and make wild gestures with the other while opening and closing his mouth noiselessly, and finally to turn around and head for the dojo. Through out the whole thing Raph sat with his arms crossed across his chest and a smug, triumphant smile on his face.

" What's he going to do now?" asked Camilla. Her smile had slowly disappeared when Leo walked off.

On the couch beside her Donny was still snickering quietly behind his hand and Mikey was still rolling on the floor laughing.

"He's probably gone to meditate." Said Raph his voice just as smug as his smile.

"Yeah." Donny had finally stopped snickering and joined in. "He's going to have to really think on how to fight Raph on this issue. Especially since Raph has had so much experience with the 'time-out' aspect of meditation. Raph can build a good argument for meditation simply being the ninja version of time-out so Leo's probably gone to think up an argument to defend the ninjitsu aspect of it."

"I don't get into to trouble _that_ often." Said Raph indignantly.

"What are you talkin' about bro?" asked Mikey. "You end up getting some kind of meditation punishment _at least _once every other day. And you know you'd get it more if Master Splinter caught you every time you _did_ go topside."

Raph glared at his youngest brother, but couldn't say anything.

"Wow, You sure do get in trouble a lot." Said Camilla with a whistle. "Hey, what time is it?" she asked, completely changing the subject.

"Huh?" Mikey just stared at her for a moment before turning around and looking at the TV clock and saying, "It's 3:18. Why? And you do know you could've just looked at the VCR for the time, right?"

"Heh, yeah." Camilla's cheeks darkened slightly at her forgetfulness, but she brushed it aside. "I'm going to call Jul and Helen again at 6:00 to find out if they want to take up Masters Splinter's offer."

"What will you do if they say 'no'?" asked Donny worriedly. Master Splinter had told them about his offer during their morning lesson and they'd all thought it was a great idea. "Your injuries really don't need you moving from place to another. Plus you need access to medical attention if they become infected or reopen.

"I know. So if they say 'no' I'll simply be staying with you till my wounds are healed enough for me to leave." She sighed and covered her bandaged stomach with a hand. "I hope they say 'yes' though. I really don't want to live in unfurnished warehouses for the rest of life with the threat of constant discovery hanging over my head."

"We could always kidnap you if you wanted." Joked Mikey, trying to cheer her up a little. She gave him a small smile and he changed the subject slightly, "So what should we do while we wait for the Fearless Leader to think up an argument against meditation being timeout for naughty ninjas?"

"I need to check Camilla's injuries and change her bandages." Said Donny as he stood up and made his way towards his lab. Giving her a shrug Mikey scrambled up from the floor and followed. Camilla followed the two at a slower pace; focusing on making her legs hold her weight and taking each step. Unfortunately her energy gave out half way across the room and she toppled forward. She pushed her hands out and closed her eyes as she braced herself for her impact with the stone floor.

Being the last one to leave the couch, Raph turned the TV off before heading towards Donny's lab. He'd just cleared the couch when he saw Camilla falling to the floor. Acting on pure instinct he lunged across the floor and, wrapping his arms around her, pulled her to his chest as he twisted so that he would be the one to hit the ground instead of her.

Camilla opened her eyes as she felt two muscled arms encircle her and pull her back into a plastron covered chest and twist her so that she was looking up at the ceiling.

The impact with the floor was only a slight jar, but she heard the huff of breath leave her rescuer. Twisting in the arms, she tilted her head so that she could see the red mask tails splayed on the floor. The turtle under her shifted slightly with a groan and her cheeks darkened.

"For some reason the floor seems harder today then it has in the past." Groaned Raph as he slowly sat up. As he did, Camilla slid down till she was sitting in his lap with his arms loosely wrapped around her. He shook his head roughly a few times to get rid of the few stars that had popped up when he'd hit it against the floor. When they were gone he looked down at her and asked, "Are you okay? We didn't land to hard did we?"

She snorted slightly at his words. "You're worried about my landing? What about you? You just took all of your weight plus mine and I know you whacked your head pretty hard. I heard it."

"That was nothing." Said Raph with a shrug. "I get hit harder with Donny's Bo and he's a big pacifist."

"So what do you consider hard then?"

"Getting hit in the tail with Master Splinter's walking stick."

"He hits you in the tails?" she hid her mouth behind a hand as she giggled quietly. "You still get spankings."

His cheeks darkened slightly as he said, "You know Leo would say it was really just some essential part of ninjitsu that was used to toughen up an overly sensitive part of our bodies." She snickered at him and his cheeks darkened a little more as he continued, "But you're right. We either get thwacked in the tail or whacked on the head." He unwrapped one of his arms from around her and, as she began to laugh out loud at him, rubbed his head and pouted at her. "It's painful. Master Splinter is a master for a reason you know." She didn't say anything in reply to his comment except laugh harder and she had to hold her sides to keep herself from stretching her wounds.

"What are you two doing on the floor?" asked Donny's puzzled voice from behind Raph.

"Discussing the difference between hitting your head on the floor and getting your head whacked." Said Raph as he stood up, shifting so that he held Camilla with one arm under her legs and the other around her waist and holding her to his chest.

"Put me down Raph I can walk!" she exclaimed as she pushed against the arm that held her to his chest.

"I doubt that considering the reason why I hit my head on the floor was because I had to dive to keep you from hitting it." His arm didn't move an inch despite her struggles and he calmly walked past Donny and Mikey, who'd followed Donny to see what'd happened to them.

The purple and orange clad brothers looked at each other with raised eyeridges as they watched the other two bicker about absolutely nothing and everything at the same time. Quietly they followed the two into the lab where Raph set Camilla down on the counter.

Donny's lab wasn't in a very large room that was filled with strange looking machines. The wall to the left of the door was covered in shelves filled with projects that Donny was currently working on, both electronic ones and ones based in other fields such as biology or chemistry. The wall to the right of the door was taken up by a large worktable that was covered in the pieces of what looked to be a broken fridge. Against the wall farthest from the door there stood a large hub of computers, which were set up so that they almost formed half of a sphere where the user could sit in the center.

"Juliana would be in heaven in here." Said Camilla as she took a good look around.

"Is she interested in the sciences?" asked Donny as he pulled out his first aid kit. "If you pull up your shirt Raph will undo the stomach wrappings for you."

"I will?" asked Raph, but Donny ignored him. "I guess I will."

"Not all of the sciences." Said Camilla as she uncovered her stomach to let Raph unwrap it. "She's just really interested in biology and all of its offshoots. If she was a human she'd definitely be a doctor." She hissed slightly when the cold air hit her injury.

The room was silent for a while as Donny examined the wound and then, after rebinding it with Raph's help, he examined her ribs again to make sure they were healing correctly.

"Everything looks fine." Said Donny as he packed everything away again. "Your ribs will probably be healed in a week or two, but the stitches will need to stay in for at least three weeks and then the wound should be kept bandaged for another week at least."

"What about those dizzy, falling spells she keeps having?" asked Raph.

"That's most likely a side effect from having lost too much blood. It should pass after she's eaten enough of the right nutrients."

"Okay, so what do you guys want to do while we wait for 6 o'clock to roll around?" asked Camilla as she took Donny's offered hand and slid down off of the worktable to the floor.

"I could t-" Donny's voice was drowned out by a sudden shouting from the living room.

"Anybody home?!" Yelled Casey's voice.

They four quickly exited Donny's lab to see Casey and April coming out of the elevator carrying a few bags each.

"Hey guys." Greeted April as she crossed to the couch and placed the bags down on the coffee table. Casey imitated her example before heading off to the kitchen followed closely by Mikey.

"What's up April?" asked Raph as he helped Camilla walk over.

"I just brought over some more clothes for Camilla. Besides," she turned to Camilla with a smile as she placed her hands on her hips "I wanted to see how much chaos would be created by having a girl in an all boy household." She laughed at the dark green colors, which spread across the two boys and girls cheeks.

"So where's Leo?" she asked sitting down on the couch that sat slightly to the left of the TV and Raph, Donny, and Camilla sat down on the main center couch.

Donny opened his mouth to say something but Casey's loud entrance interrupted him.

"Hey, guys! I brought some drinks if you want them." He gestured to one of the bags on the coffee table as he walked towards them. In his arms he carried three cups filled with ice and right behind him was Mikey with four more cups. "We brought ice."

The two of them handed the cups out and left the extra one on the table for Leo if he ever decided to join them.

"So, tell us what's been happening since we left." Said Casey as he plopped down in the seat next to April and Mikey somehow squeezed himself onto the center couch between Camilla and Donny.

So they told April and Casey everything that had happened at breakfast. Leo must have heard them talking, because he came out and joined them and, though he didn't say anything on the subject, everyone could tell that he was just waiting for the right opportunity to bring the subject of meditation back up. Donny pointedly ignored Leo and continued with his story he told about the eventful call to Camilla's family, Raph's disappearance, Raph's reappearance, his punishment, the puppy-dog-eyes technique deal and it's following game tournament, Camilla's revelation about the truth behind meditation, Leo's subsequent withdrawal into the Dojo, Camilla's current health, and they finished with their current dilemma of not having anything interesting to do while they waited to call Camilla's family again.

"Well you don't have to worry about that last issue anymore." Said April with a small chuckle.

"What do you mean?" asked Donny as one of his eyeridges rose in question.

April gestured to the VCR below the television, which now said 5:23. "That story took quite a while. I bet they wouldn't mind too much if you called a little early."

"I bet you're right." Said Camilla happily. She grabbed the shell cell from where it still lay on the coffee table from this morning but paused before punching in the number. "Would someone go get Splinter. I think he should be here since it's his home that he is offering up."

"I'll go get him!" exclaimed Mikey and he bolted from the couch and ran out of the room.

"You might as well call and then just wait till Master Splinter gets here to make any definite plans." Said Raph. She nodded and dialed. They sat in silence as a quiet ringing was heard through phone.

A muffled "Hello?" sounded from the phone and Camilla pressed it closer to her ear to hear it better.

"Hey Jul. Have you guys talked about it?"

"Sheesh, Cam. It really must be you. Only you would be so blunt."

"What can I say, I'm amazing and straight to the point. So what do you guys think?" Before the person on the other side could answer she added, "We'd first live with them in a sort of trial period to see if we could stand living in a household with four teenage boys. If we find it impossible, Master Splinter's been kind enough to offer to help us set up somewhere near where they live."

"Cam, does it not strike you as odd that these people you just met are being so nice and helpful? Face it, they're probably just trying to get us all in the same place so that they can sell us to a zoo or something."

"Jul they would never do something like that!" exclaimed Camilla angrily. Her outburst caused the others in the room to look at her questioningly since they hadn't been able to hear the last thin the other person had said. She gave an exasperated sigh before continuing, "Trust me for once. They're really nice. You'd positively love it here. You and Donny will probably get along really well. I can already imagine the two of you yelling at me not to walk without crutches on a broken leg."

"You've had a broken leg before?" asked Raph with interest.

"Of course I would yell at you to use crutches, if I didn't tell you to get off the leg entirely! Exclaimed Donny loudly. "You're gonna be as bad a patient as Raph, aren't you?"

"I'm gonna guess that yell about crutches was Donny, huh?" said Jul.

"Yep, and apparently Raph's as bad a patient as I am." She giggled into the phone slightly and Donny held his head in his hands as he started mumbling something about 'two of them now'.

"Hey, lighten up bro." said Raph as he patted his brother consolingly on the back. "If they do come to stay, it sounds like you'll have some help with us."

"So what does your family say?" the group turned to see Splinter standing behind the couch with Mikey standing beside him.

"They still don't know if they should trust you." Said Camilla with a slightly disappointed tone in her voice.

"That is understandable given the situation." Said Splinter. "I think it would be best if they meet my sons to decide as to whether or not they would like to move in."

Camilla nodded in agreement and relayed the message into the phone.

"I don't know Cam." Said Jul uneasily. Helen and I are really worried about these guys. They seemed really eager to help us. This is New York. People don't help each other for nothing here."

"Not everybody is looking to gain from others." Said Camilla tiredly.

"Alright, alright. We can't understand why you're so dead set on staying there. You don't even know these guys, yet you're certain we can trust them as soon as we meet them."

"No." said Camilla bluntly. "I just know that the instant you meet them you'll know they'd never use someone or betray someone in that way. So when you meet them you should bring all of the stuff we managed to save from the fire so that we can just move in immediately."

"You need to give us time to think about this first Camilla." Said a new voice.

"Hello Helen. How was school today." Asked Camilla with a slight trace of hostility in her voice.

A couple of loud, incomprehensible yells were over the phone before Jul's voice asked tiredly, "Where should we meet them?"

"I think it would be best if my sons go to the surface and bring them down here." Said Splinter as he walked towards the kitchen. "Ms. Camilla you are not yet fully healed and you should not be moving around too much. Tell your family that my sons will meet them in the alley between the sandwich shop and the electronics store on 36th avenue."

Camilla repeated what Splinter had said and then said, "They'll meet you there in twenty minutes and you guys should remember what dad always said, 'open minds lead to open hearts, while closed minds lead to stepped on toes and bruised shins'."

"If you say so Cam, but he was talking about adults being open to the concept that children understand what's going on around them and don't take being looked down upon lightly." Said Jul with confusion evident in her voice.

"It works." said Camilla simply.

"If you say so." Repeated Jul. "Helen and Ida say 'Bye' and we'll see you in a little bit."

"See you soon then." After a final 'bye' from her sister she flipped the phone closed and then dropped it back onto the table.

"Go now my sons." Said Splinter's voice from the kitchen, "Stay safe and out of sight."

"Yes Sensei." Said the turtles all together as they left the lair.

"Well," said April to Camilla after the elevator had closed behind them, "Your arrival has certainly taken their minds off of arguing." Camilla raised one of her eyeridges in question, but April merely shook her head and said, "You'll see. Since you're going to be staying here for a while, you'll learn all about them. Over the years I know I have. Eventually you'll probably come to view them as brothers."

"Yeah," said Casey as he joined into the conversation, "you'll come to think of them as big muscled, green, thick skulled, annoying brothers that you can't help but like."

Splinter returned from the kitchen carrying a small tray with two cups of tea on it.

"We should really get going Master Splinter." Said April as she and Casey picked up some of the extra bags that she had brought in. "I need to put this stuff away and Casey's got a delivery to make this evening."

"Good evening then Ms. O'Neil, Mr. Jones. I hope to see you again soon."

"Good-Bye Master Splinter." Then April turned to Camilla, "If you need anything just give me a call, all the boys know my number. I'll see you later."

"Bye guys." Said Casey in way of farewell as he and April got into the elevator and it closed its door.

"Would you care to join me for a cup of tea while we wait for the others to return with your siblings?" asked Splinter as he set the tray down on the table and perched himself on the edge of the recliner like he had that very morning when he'd first offered to let them live there.

"Yes please." Said Camilla and she took the steaming cup he offered her with a grateful smile.

And so they sat in peaceful silence waiting for the others to return.


	5. Fights, Meetings, & Decisions

Chapter Five

**Fights, Meetings, & Decisions**

"_Take time to deliberate, but when the time for action has arrived, stop thinking and go in." – Napoleon Bonaparte_

"Sooo," said Mikey as the four turtles jumped from roof to roof, "where exactly are we going again?"

Donny sighed and rubbed his head as he answered exasperated, "Mikey, if you would actually listen for once you'd know. We're going to 36th avenue."

"Okay. And I do to listen, when I feel like it's something really important or I can't ask you to repeat it for me later." Said Mikey with a large grin.

Donny groaned as Raph and Leo shared a laugh at their younger brother's expense.

"So how do you want to do this?" asked Donny, effectively changing the subject and bringing everyone's attention back to the matter at hand. They had reached the roof of the electronic store and were now perched atop it, surveying the alleys and streets below, making sure that the coast was clear. "We have to some how convince them that we are good people and that we have taken good care of their sister. Plus we can't freak them out with how we look. We're going to have to plan this out." He sighed again as he began pacing back and forth across the roof as he thought.

His three brothers shared an amused glance before resuming their watch of the streets. They had only been there a few minutes when it started drizzling.

"Ugh. Just what we need." Muttered Raph darkly from the shadow where he was hidden.

"I would say the phrase," said Mikey, "but then it would happen."

Raph nodded in understanding but Leo looked at him quizzically. Donny just ignored him as he continued to plan out a way to explain to Camilla's sisters that they were not bad people despite the fact that they were giant mutant turtles who looked like they could kill people, because honestly, not even most adult body builders had as many muscles as even Mikey did, let alone Raph.

"What phrase Mikey?" asked Leo as his eyeridge rose in question.

Mikey shook his head, "No I can't say it. If I say it, it'll happen."

"What are you talking about? How could saying something make it happen?" asked Leo incredulously.

"Usually I'd agree with you Leo, and say it was just Mikey being superstitious, but it's happened to many times for it to be coincidence so we just don't say it anymore." Said Raph joining in.

"What's happened?" Leo asked desperately, his face clearly showing just how confused he was.

Taking pity on him Mikey said, "I'll tell you once we get back to the lair."

Leo opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off by Raph suddenly, "Hey I think I see them."

Within seconds they had all gathered around their brother and were looking down at the street below. Two girls, both dressed in coats similar to the one Camilla had worn, could be seen exiting the sandwich shop and walking into the alley between the shop and the electronics store.

"Why are there only two of them? Where's Ida, the little one?" asked Raph, his brow furrowed.

"They probably wanted to make sure that it wasn't a trap before entrusting us with the safety of their littlest sister as well." Reasoned Donny.

"So should we go down to meet them?" asked Mikey as he bounced over to the edge of the roof.

"I guess we don't have much choice, but try not to scare them too much. Raph, that means you are not allowed to flex your muscles. It might scare them. And no arguing with Leo." He added as an afterthought.

"How the hell am I supposed to do that?" asked Raph incredulously. "The only way you can walk and move around is by flexing your muscles! And don't worry, I'll behave as long as Fearless Leader does."

Once again Leo opened his mouth to try and say something, only to have it cut off. A scream echoed out of the alley below them and vibrated through the evening light, seeming to bounce off of the very rain clouds and coming back louder.

"That was female!" yelled Raph, and then he was gone, over the edge of the roof and into the darkness of the alley. His brothers followed mere seconds behind.

Raph flew down through the rain and landed with a thud on the pavement, alerting the others in the alley to his presence. Behind him he heard his brothers land and take cover behind a large garbage bin. He heard them whisper at him to stay in the shadows, but he disregarded them and kept his attention on the figures in front of him.

Before him stood a group of twelve large guys and in their midst, laying prone on the ground, were Camilla's sisters. The sight of the two girls lying crumpled drenched on the ground made him clench his fists in anger and he found himself walking steadily towards them. Ignoring the frantic hiss of Leo to 'Stop!' Every person in the alley turned towards him as a low growl burst from his throat and he threw himself at the guy closest to him.

His Sais were in his fists in an instant and he hit the two guys closest to him in a full body tackle. A few good whacks with his fists and they were out cold. Without pausing, he jumped up and attacked the next few who were near him. (**9-8-08**) Before the others could react he was back up and had knocked down three more with some well-placed hits to their heads.

Finally reacting to the attack, six of the remaining thugs charged him. Raph grabbed the nearest thug's arm as he sidestepped his lunge, and using the guy's momentum, he spun in a circle and threw the guy into three others causing all four of them to fall to the round. A series of kicks assured him that the four would remain down for a while.

Hearing a scuffing sound on the pavement behind him, Raph dodged to the left as one of the remaining thugs thrust a knife where his neck had been a moment ago. A few quick slices from Raph's Sais disarmed the thug and then left him whimpering on the ground in pain. Seeing the knife on the ground, one of the other thugs stooped to pick it up, but was sent sprawling head first into a wall by a kick from Raph, where he crumpled to the pavement groaning in pain. The knife remained where it had been dropped on the rain-slicked ground.

Raph spun around and delivered a spinning kick to the only man left standing, who was knocked unconscious from the force of the blow. The alley became silent except for the sound of the rain, as the last would-be mugger fell to the ground. Spinning his Sais once in his hands, he slid them back into his belt and turned to face the two girls who were still lying on the ground.

Approaching them, he asked, "Are you two alright?"

The girls stared at him in silence, their wide eyes showing their shock. They both gave him small nods, but neither said anything in response to his question as they continued to stare.

Mikey bounced out of the shadows to stand next his older brother, Leo and Donny following him at a much slower pace. "Dude," said Mikey as he slapped Raph on the shoulder, "I think you broke them."

"Mikey," growled Raph threateningly, "shut up."

"Raph, what did I tell you about being intimidating?" asked Donny sharply as he came to a stop on the far side of Mikey. He folded his arms across his chest as his eyes narrowed and he glared at his hotheaded brother.

"What was I supposed to do," asked Raph before sarcastically adding, "let two helpless girls get mugged by twelve giant malicious thugs?"

"Of course not." Said Leo hoping to defuse the situation, but found himself cut off before he could continue.

Still glaring, Donny asked, "Did you really have to make such animalistic sounds while you were saving them? You sounded like some kind of Neanderthal or barbarian." Seeing Raph's confused expression he sighed and said, "You were roaring and growling like you were possessed."

"Oh." Said Raph. "Why should that matter? I do that all the time."

Donny shook his head in exasperation and muttered, "I give up. Someone else can try and civilize him."

"Uhh, guys." Said Mikey, gaining his brothers' attention. They followed his gaze to the two girls who were now slowly climbing to their feet, their eyes still wide with shock.

Uneasy silence filled the alley as the two groups simply stared at each other. The quiet was broken by a groan from one of the muggers as he struggled to rise to his feet. Before anyone could say anything, Raph had kicked the guy in the head and rendered him unconscious once again.

"Sorry." Said Raph to no one in particular. "I thought I'd got them all the first time."

"So," said one of the girls as she stepped towards them, "you're mutant turtles?"

"We're Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!" exclaimed Mikey before he got smacked on the head by Raph. "Ow." He whined as he rubbed the now sore spot on the back of his skull.

The two girls exchanged a glance before the other one stepped up and said, "My name is Helen and this is my sister Juliana. Thank-you for saving us."

"My name is Leonardo." Said Leo and then pointing to each of his brothers in turn, he introduced them, "and these are my brothers Donatello, Michelangelo, and Raphael."

Both girls' mouths dropped open in surprise and Juliana stuttered, "Y-you're the ones who're helping Cam?" When she saw the turtles nod their heads, a strained giggle escaped her and she said, "No wonder Cam said we could trust you."

"I can't believe she didn't tell us you're mutants." Said Helen indignantly. "We wouldn't have worried quite so much."

"Where is Cam?" asked Juliana, stopping Helen's tirade before it could pick up any momentum.

"She's at our home with Master Splinter." Said Leo, hoping to gain some semblance of control on the conversation to try and make it so his siblings couldn't scare the girls off.

"And where exactly is that?" asked Juliana.

"We can't tell you till you've decided whether or not to keep our existence a secret." Said Donny. "Master Splinter was mad enough with Raph for exposing us to April and Casey. We don't want to take our chances with his ire again."

"Of course we'll keep your existence a secret!" exclaimed Helen as she placed her hands on her hips and Juliana crossed her arms. "If we give your secret away, we give our secret away."

"In case you haven't noticed I'm furry and I have a bushy tail." Added Juliana.

"That coat actually hides the furriness and everything." Interjected Mikey before anyone else could say anything.

"I know." Said Juliana with a small smile.

"So do you accept Master Splinter's proposal or not." Demanded Raph having grown tired of standing in the rain.

"Raph." Groaned Leo and Donny together.

"What?" asked Raph. "I for one don't want to stand out here in the rain any longer. And I bet these two don't want to leave Ida alone for too long, she is only six."

The two girls nodded and then turning to each, began to converse in hushed whispers. The boys could only wait till they'd finished to do anything.

After a few minutes the girls turned back to them and Helen announced, "We accept your Master Splinter's offer for help. We really don't want Ida to grow up living in a different abandoned building every week."

"Alright." Said Mikey with a grin. "Let's go then"

"Hang on a minute Mikey." Said Donny, grabbing him before he could run off. "Let them go get their sister first."

"Oh, heh, right."

"We'll only be a minute." Said Juliana and then the two girls ran out of the alley.

"Well," said Leo to the others, "I guess we'll wait then."

"Oh goodie." Said Raph.

"Come on," said Donny, "help me tie up these guys so they can't go anywhere till the police can pick them up."

"You brought rope?" asked Mikey slightly incredulous that his purple brother was so prepared.

"Of course. When Raph's around we usually run into some trouble."

"Hey." Said Raph.

"I hope they hurry." said Leo as he tied a group of the would-be muggers up. "If we stay out in this rain too long, we'll all catch colds."

"Ugh, I do not want to have any of you as patients unless it's absolutely necessary." Muttered Donny to himself. "Especially Raph."

"I'm not that much trouble." Said Raph. His brothers all stopped what they were doing and stared at him. "What?" he asked.

"Right." Said Mikey sarcastically. "You're no trouble at all. In fact you're such a good patient that none of us have ever been called to help Donny tie you to your bed to keep you from moving."

"That was just once." Defended Raph.

"And we've **never** had to have Master Splinter confiscate you Sais before because of an injury either." Added Leo.

"Alright," said Raph throwing his hands up in defeat, "I'm an awful patient. I can't help it. I hate being confined to bed rest."

"Yes, we know." Said Donny as he tied up the last of the thugs. "We can call the police once we're back in the sewers."

The sound of footsteps approaching the alley caused the boys to freeze. A single gesture from Leo had them all hidden in the shadows in a matter of seconds.

"Guys, we're back." Called Juliana as she entered the alley, followed by Helen and a small girl, who must have been Ida, who was wearing a coat that was much too large for her.

"Where'd they go?" asked Helen looking around.

"We just had to make sure you weren't some random humans." Said Mikey as he popped out of his hiding place to stand in front of the girls. Helen and Juliana let out little yelps and stumbled backwards only to bump into Leo and Raph who'd moved behind them.

"Don't scare us like that." Gasped Juliana as she struggled to get her breath back.

"They're turtles!" exclaimed Ida gaining everyone's attention. She had moved away from Helen and Juliana and was standing in front of Donny. "They're mutants like us." She added with a happy smile.

"Yeah." Said Donny, unsure of how to deal with the six-year-old.

"Are you going to take us to Cam?" asked Ida hopefully as she started to poke Donatello on his plastron.

"Uh, y-yes." Stuttered Donny as he stumbled backwards a little, trying to escape her curious fingers, which were beginning to tickle.

Seeing his genius brother's obvious discomfort, Mikey took pity and kneeling down in front of the girl asked, "Are you Ida?"

Ida nodded, and suddenly shy said, "Yes. Is Cam all right?"

Mikey gave her a big grin as he nodded, "Yep. She's probably being bored to death though by our master with stories about how he raised us." He stopped speaking abruptly as what he'd just said caught up with his mind. Turning to his brothers with a panicked look on his face he said, "Guys we've got to get back before he says something embarrassing."

"What're you talking about?" asked Raph as one of his eyeridges rose in question.

"I'm talking about baby stories!" exclaimed Mikey worriedly as he flailed his arms animatedly to the amusement of Ida. "What if he pulls out pictures?!"

"Why should that bother us?" asked Leo who looked just as confused as Raph.

"The only one of us regularly caught on film doing something stupid is you Mikey." Added Donny from where he'd moved to hide behind Leo and Juliana, trying to put as many people as possible between him and the little child who'd poked him.

"He still has those pictures from that night at the farm!" exclaimed Mikey and his brothers faces filled with horror before they all seemed to set in determination.

"We get back as fast as possible." Said Donny resolutely.

"Agreed." Said Leo before turning to the now bewildered and slightly humored girls standing beside him. "We should really leave now."

"Ahh," said Juliana with a mischievous grin, "I think we should take our time so your Master Splinter can tell Cam as many stories as he likes."

"We've already spent more time then we'd originally planned here because of the muggers." Said Donny, using logic to try and convince the girls. "The sooner we leave the sooner we can call the police to come pick them up. And you'll also get to see Camilla sooner."

"I want to see Cam!" yelled Ida as she began jumping up and down.

"Oh alright." Said Juliana with a small pout as Helen rolled her eyes at her younger sisters' antics. "Let's go then."

Mikey pulled his shell-cell out to call the police, but it was swiped from his hands before he could dial the number. Looking to see Raph now holding the phone to his ear he whined, "Raph! I was gonna call the cops this time. It's my shell-cell."

Raph merely rolled his eyes and didn't grace his brother with an answer since someone on the other side of the line had picked up. Walking farther into the alley he began giving the police the details of the mugging attempt.

Turning to Leo, Mikey continued his whining, "Leo, I wanted to make the call. Why does Raph always do it?"

"Mikey," sighed Leo, "it doesn't really matter."

Seeing the beginnings of a small tantrum Donny decided to cut the whining off short, "Raph always makes the call because he's always the one who beats the majority of the thugs up. His voice has probably become rather familiar at the police station."

"The cops will be here in a minute so we should get going." Said Raph as he rejoined the rest of them. "I think they've started to recognize my voice and they want to know who's been beating up the local thugs."

Mikey looked at his purple wearing brother in awe for a moment before asking, "How in the world can you know of such things?"

"I have my ways." Said Donny simply. "So we should go before they get here." After receiving a nod from everyone he led the way the alley's manhole.

"You live in the sewer?" Helen's tone was incredulous and her unwillingness to enter the underground was reflected in Juliana's face.

"It's not that bad." Said Mikey.

"It's the sewer!" exclaimed Juliana.

"Our home is not the sewer." Said Leo easing the girls' fears slightly. "The sewers are simply the easiest way to get there."

"Yeah our home's awesome." Said Mikey. "Donny's wired it up for everything."

"I didn't do everything Mikey." Said Donny, slightly embarrassed by his little brother's words. "A lot of the wiring was already there. I just fixed it up and patched us into the nearest power plant."

"You also some how fixed up that satellite TV for us." Said Mikey happily.

Blushing a dark green Donny just mumbled, "Yeah."

"Guys," interrupted Raph with an impatient look on his face, "cops. Shouldn't we leave?"

"Oh, yeah." Said Leo. "Lets go." Leo quickly dropped through the manhole closely followed by Mikey. Turning back to the girls Leo called, "Jump down and we'll catch you."

Taking a deep breath Helen took the plunge first and let herself drop through the hole. True to his word, Leo caught her.

Helen took one look at the slop running over the ground and said, "You're carrying us."

Leo opened his mouth to say something but was cut off by Juliana's squeak of terror as she dropped through the manhole and Mikey caught her. Juliana clung to Mikey in fright, causing Helen and Leo to laugh at the surprised look on Mikey's face. Juliana quickly returned to her senses and to the two turtles surprise repeated Helen's demand to be carried.

Before the two could respond, Donny came flying down the hole followed closely by Raph who slid the manhole cover into place behind him.

"What's wrong?" asked Leo worriedly.

"Where's Ida?" asked Helen at the same time as she clung to Leo.

"You guys took your sweet time getting down here." Said Raph gruffly earning a smack on the head from Donny.

After making sure his brash older brother was in a sufficient amount of pain, Donny said, "The cops showed up."

"Where's Ida?" repeated Helen in a much more demanding voice.

Still rubbing his head Raph turned around in a circle to show them all the girl clinging to the back of his shell.

"I get a piggy back ride!" giggled Ida happily causing everyone but Raph to laugh.

"Okay, if we're all here we can go then." Said Mikey as he made an attempt to set Juliana down. As soon as she realized what he was doing she wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. "Don't you want to walk?" asked a rather confused Mikey.

"I am not walking through this muck." Was Juliana's growled answer as she squeezed her legs around his waist.

"Gah!" he gasped as his breath left him. "Okay, okay. I'll carry you."

Juliana smiled at him before releasing him and allowing him to twist her around so that he was once again carrying her bridle style.

After a glance at Helen, Leo sighed and said, "I have to carry you too don't I?" His only answer was a small smile that seemed strangely feral for a human.

Donny and Raph couldn't contain their laughter at their brothers' predicaments. Receiving glares from their suffering brothers they started down the tunnel towards the lair. Ida giggling happily in Raph's ear the whole way about seeing her big sister Cam.


End file.
